[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The GreatViews expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.

In early September at an annual meeting here of Germany's ambassadors, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told his top diplomats that the E.U. would "not accept" nuclear weapons in the hands of the mullahs. He had discussed the matter with the foreign ministers of France and Britain and "nothing would change" in this position. Fischer warned against a nuclear arms race in the Middle East (it would be a "nightmare," he said) and appealed three times to the Iranian leadership not to miscalculate.

That sounds serious. But then remember that high-noon rhetoric in Euroland means something different than it does in Texas. I once watched a dubbed western in Germany. In the original the sheriff says to the outlaw, "If yer not outta town by sundown, I'm gonna come gunnin' for you." In the German version the villain gets stern mutterings about the need to de-register at the Einwohneranmeldeamt--literally, the inhabitant registration office, the local authority where you fill out forms anytime you move from one place of residence to another. Now that'll make you shake in your boots.

In truth, Germany's Iran policy has been bankrupt from nearly day one. Bonn started the project in 1992 under the banner of "Critical Dialogue." While Germany and its European partners tried aid, trade, credits, and diplomatic indulgences, the regime in Tehran continued to support terrorism, repress the Iranian people, and clandestinely pursue nuclear weapons. In 1999 the E.U. changed the name of the policy to "Constructive Dialogue." A German friend of mine once explained to me, with some embarrassment, how the policy works. Europe is nice to the mullahs, and when this fails, well, Europe tries to be a little nicer.

It is not hard to imagine how hilarious all this must look from Tehran's perspective. While today Fischer talks tough, senior officials in Berlin are making no secret of the fact that they believe multilateral sanctions will never work and a military option to check Iran's nuclear ambitions is out of the question. Germany has been allergic even to the idea of stepped-up political pressure. There is some irony to all this, of course. On the one hand, Berlin has been campaigning hard for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Germany loves the U.N. On the other hand, the Germans have also campaigned to keep the issue of Iran's nuclear program out of the Security Council.

A recent headline in a Berlin daily called for the West to offer Tehran "a fair price" to give up its nuclear ambition. A paper recently published by an important government-funded think tank in Berlin offers concrete proposals: "normalization of American-Iranian relations, U.S. abandonment of stigmatizing Iran as a 'rogue state' [and] the lifting of economic sanctions." It seems the Germans have run out of carrots and it's time for the Americans to do their part. The author argues for greater European support of "moderate forces," referring not to Iran, but rather to those in the United States who support more "engagement" with the mullahs.

Things are not much better in Britain. Prime Minister Tony Blair may have more serious inclinations, but he is using Iran to show his Europeanness and will be loath to break E.U. ranks again as he did over Iraq. His foreign minister, Jack Straw, is a dedicated advocate of the E.U. approach. Straw raced to Tehran shortly after 9/11 to appeal to common values in the struggle against terrorism. Even among Tories, there is consensus about the imperative of "engagement." Conservative politician Chris Patten says the failure of E.U. policy on Iran has been one of the biggest disappointments in his tenure as E.U. commissioner. Strangely, Patten also steadfastly rejects a harder line and insists that there is no alternative to détente.

For their part, the French, of course, still see Iran as part of the greater game: building the E.U. as a geostrategic counterweight to the United States. President Jacques Chirac and German chancellor Gerhard Schröder recently visited Madrid together. They must feel encouraged by developments there. The new Spanish defense minister, José Bono, says his country is no longer "kneeling" before Washington and that it is high time for Madrid to "show its sovereignty." What better chance than to use Iran as a test case for an independent E.U. foreign policy?

You can get to the bottom line pretty quickly. The mullahs want the bomb. The E.U. will help them get it. Over the last 22 months--and six board meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency--the terrible unilateralists of the Bush administration have pushed in vain for the E.U. to support the United States in getting the matter referred to the Security Council. It is simply not the time "to wield that weapon," writes the left-wing British newspaper the Guardian. A mighty weapon it is! When the issue finally gets to the U.N., we all know the script. Saddam Hussein got 17 resolutions and 12 years, at the end of which America received angry calls from Berlin and Paris for still more time to coax the Iraqi dictator to behave.

It is hard to see how we avoid another transatlantic meltdown. The chattering classes across Europe are already busy developing the rationale for appeasement. Britain's Financial Times says "Iran has legitimate security concerns," being "surrounded by nuclear-armed powers including Israel and nervous of U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, central Asia and the Gulf." In the August 26, 2004, issue of the British magazine Prospect, one columnist poses the question: "Rather than thinking about how to keep [the mullahs] in their place, why not take their interests seriously?"

Adds Steven Everts of the London-based Centre for European Reform in the Financial Times: "It's very, very difficult to dissuade a country from going down the path of nuclear weapons if it's convinced that its strategic approach requires them." This E.U.-speak roughly translates as: "You varmints better high tail it outta here, unless of course you prefer not to because you'd rather stick around and mess with the townfolk, in which case all of us are gonna be pretty darn mad."

Well the IRI was successful in buying some time. Now they will soon agree "in words" and continue their nuclear activities behind the scene until they're exposed again and the cycle will repeat itself until the IRI has the NUKE! The world knows this but nothing has been done.... APPEASEMENT at its best!_________________JAVID IRAN!

Shame on the Filthy, Greedy, Neo Colonialist EU for their continued Sponsorshiop of the Murderous Islamist and Terrorist Mullah$ of Iran!!!

-----------------------------------------

In Major Compromise EU Softens Demand on Iran for Uranium Enrichment Suspension

November 02, 2004
AFP
Yahoo News!

VIENNA -- The European Union is no longer explicitly calling for an indefinite suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment, diplomats said, outlining a compromise proposal ahead of a crucial meeting with the Iranians on their nuclear programme.

The diplomats said ambassadors from Britain, France and Germany were Tuesday to hand over in Tehran the EU's written offer, ahead of a scheduled meeting with Iran in Paris on Friday on Europe's request for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear weapons.

"This paper fudges the uranium enrichment question by saying suspension needs to hold until the conclusion of negotiations over the long-term status of Iran's program," said a Western diplomat who requested anonymity.

It is "a very polished linguistic version, so to speak, to bypass that problem (indefinite suspension of enrichment)," another diplomat close to the talks said.

The EU, led by Britain, France and Germany, has until now said Iran must indefinitely suspend uranium enrichment, a key part of the nuclear fuel cycle, but Iran insists that its right to enrichment cannot be called into question, which would be the case in an indefinite suspension.

Top nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian said in Tehran that Iran could agree to maintain a suspension of uranium enrichment for half a year.

But he added: "Cessation is rejected, indefinite suspension is rejected, suspension shall be a confidence-building measure and a voluntary decision by Iran and in no way a legal obligation, and this has to be clear in our understanding."

In Brussels, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier urged Iran to produce a "lasting" halt to its uranium enrichment activities, carefully avoiding the word "indefinite" as signs emerged of a compromise deal between Iran and the EU.

The United States, which is keeping a low profile on the European initiative, wants the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at a meeting in Vienna on November 25 to take Iran before the UN Security Council for running what it claims is a secret nuclear weapons program.

The Council could then impose punishing sanctions.

The Western diplomat said the United States was "fully in waiting mode, waiting to see how the Iranians react" to the European offer, which is aimed at avoid taking Iran to the Security Council.

Europe's three major powers have vowed to offer nuclear technology, increased trade and help with Iran's regional security concerns if Tehran halts enrichment.

But Iran has said it wants these incentives to be given to it up front, instead of the Islamic Republic having to wait until the end of the negotiating process, diplomats said.

"Iran is willing to consider a suspension but wants to know what it will get in return," a non-aligned diplomat close to the IAEA told AFP Tuesday after a briefing by Iran's IAEA ambassador Pirooz Hosseini.

Mousavian's comments were echoed by President Mohammad Khatami who said: "Our nation must be given the assurance that it will not be stripped of its right (to enrich uranium)."

But of Friday's new round of talks, Khatami told reporters: "I am optimistic... Both sides are showing flexibility."

Moussavian has told the European trio that Iran's national security council is "pretty divided on the issue," a diplomat told AFP in Vienna.

Moussavian said the council has "a small majority in favor of suspension and some opposed to it," the diplomat said.

The diplomat said: "Iran now has the choice -- the Iranians can say yes (to the European offer) and things can move forward or they can say no and they know the consequences."

..now that Bush has four more years..watch these issues get put back on to the front burner..one prays as much any way.._________________"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin